Hints and tips that help you win tenders

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Over the next few months I will be developing a useful resource made freely available to those who are interested in enhancing their  knowledge around tendering. I'm going to start with some key themes and topics that are relevant to all those hoping to improve their success rates when tendering for public sector contracts.

Do feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think of these  resources and you could always make suggestions about other topics I could add to enhance this resource. 

My first offering - one in a series of commentary pieces designed to  help those less familiar with successful tender writing - explores the role of a somewhat slippery term Added Value in public sector tendering. Despite there being no universal definition of the term, it nonetheless plays a central role in differentiating 'good' from  'excellent' responses.

As such, it's imperative that those taking to bid writing become familiar with the concept. Your greater understanding of what added value is and the role it plays will help you better prepare  and present your responses and improve your likelihood of success.  

Take  a look at my downloadable PDF which explores what Added Value is and how it plays a critical role in helping you win tenders. 

Simply  click on the 'big blue download button'. You can download and print my two page summary for free. The document should open up in a new browser when you  click on it:  

Here  I plan to discuss what social value is, and explore some of the  challenges involved in articulating your organisation's impact on the  local economy, society and environment. 

Providing evidence that backs up your  claims is critical in excellent tender writing. Case studies are a  really good way of demonstrating your qualities and showcasing how you  operate with great outcomes for your clients. I plan to present what I  think are the key elements that make up an excellent case study and how  you can go about preparing these to maximise the impact of your  responses. 

This is a classic favorite for  bid writers and many have written extensively about the go/no go  decision making process. Despite that I'm going to present my views on  this and talk about the balance of risk against potential reward.  Being  ready for tendering is critical and I explain how important it is  having the right resources available to you, like a set of up-to-date  policies and procedures that you often need when submitting a tender;  whether that be an SSQ, PQQ or ITT. 

This is a topic of particular interest to me, being an ethically-driven  individual. There are loads of freely available resources out there  which everyone can access for free. These resources will alert you to  the many thousands of published opportunities distributed everyday. You  don't have to spend hundreds or thousands on signing up for a tender  alert service you can develop your own search system for free! This is  particularly helpful to micro and small business owners, those who lack  financial resources or are still trying to establish and grow their  business. Watch this space. I'll share with you some free resources to  help you quicky and cheaply identifiy the right tender opportunity for  you.